Big businesses, celebrities, and the public call for the discriminatory legislation in North Carolina and Mississippi to be tossed out.

In response to the backlash over North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom bill” law, Governor Pat McCrory has signed an executive order in what looks to be an attempt to quell criticism of the discriminatory legislation.

Under the executive order, restrictions on which bathrooms transgender people use will remain, but employment protections will be expanded based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The change comes after both the public, corporations, and celebrities criticized the original law.

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina says despite the modification, discrimination against the LGBT community is still at the core of the legislation and they will proceed with a lawsuit against the state.

NewsOne Now panelist Michelle Bernard said the State of North Carolina should be “embarrassed” over the “bathroom bill.” Bernard stated the discriminatory legislation “will have an impact on the state in every area that you can possibly imagine.”

She added, “It is discriminatory, it is absolutely insane and ridiculous and if somebody is a member of the LGBT community, that does not automatically mean that person is somehow a threat to you, physically or in any other way — just like a Black man walking into a room is not a threat to people simply because he’s Black.”

Bernard also said the bill is the “height of hypocrisy.”

In speaking about Mississippi’s “religious freedom” law, NewsOne Now guest host Dr. Wilmer Leon said the legislation is “utter foolishness.”

Mississippi’s new law allows workers to use their religious beliefs to deny services to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Dr. Leon also stated, “No one should be able to use their religious base as a means to discrimination for any reason at all.” He added, “If you have to get a license from the state to do business, then you have to do business with everybody in the state.”

Lawmakers in Mississippi who opposed the legislation hope to undo the measure before it becomes law on July 1st.

Watch guest host Dr. Wilmer Leon and the NewsOne Now panel discuss North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” and Mississippi’s “religious freedom” law in the video clip above.